Tour: 9 July 2019

 Stopped in Scenic, South Dakota while heading to the Badlands National Park. You can still see some old buildings in this town of less than 60 people.  

 No idea what this little guy is, crawling across the gravel road in Badlands National Park.

 Everyone knows the American bison and he controls the road.

 Notch Trail looking back toward the ladder.

 My guests were just starting down the ladder, this is a dream for a nine year old.

 Prairie homestead is good final stop after driving through the Badlands.

 We did make one more stop, Wall Drug. Can't visit SoDak without a stop at this iconic place.

Tours

 If you aren't following SoDak weather it has been a wet year. We have had 20" of moisture so far this year and a normal total year accumulation is 16-18". While this keeps our part of the state green it also creates problems such as tall grasses that will dry out and easily catch fire. I have included some photos here from the various tours I've been leading. Disclaimer on Mt. Rushmore.......no matter what you hear, there can be no more presidents added to the rock. It's a myth that Obama or Trump will ever be added.

 Crazy Horse is making progress and worth the bus trip back to the base.

 I got caught filling the tour van with gas when this downpour hit town. We received nearly an 1" of rain from this storm. For those of you not from dry climates, that is a lot of rain at one time.

 I had a Colorado couple on a tour when we ran into this family along the road. I had never come across the young ones before!

Lover's Leap Trail, Custer State Park: 1 July 2019

 First time on this trail and we ran into a lot of poison ivy. It's a 4 mile loop and opportunity to see wildlife is above average. This trail is located near the C.S.P. Game Lodge that was the summer White House during the Coolidge administration.

 This sign took me back to team teaching days with Tom and Kirk. We would have had a wonderful project for American Studies centering around this sign.

 We were not as close as this photo appears, sorry it is so grainy.

 The trees show the fire damage from the December 2017 fire that burned over 50,000 acres in C.S.P. The large amounts of moisture the past two years have helped bring the forest back. There is a lot of food for the large bison, deer and other animals.

Friends

We had a great visit with friends from Illinois. Far too brief but we were able to get the children downtown to play in the fountain.

 Morning trip to Sylvan Lake is always welcome. Did some hiking and getting wet. As you can see there is a variety of activities and the area was packed with people enjoying the beautiful summer weather.